Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
  • F28F—DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
  • F28F3/00—Plate-like or laminated elements; Assemblies of plate-like or laminated elements
  • F28F3/08—Elements constructed for building-up into stacks, e.g. capable of being taken apart for cleaning
  • F28F3/083—Elements constructed for building-up into stacks, e.g. capable of being taken apart for cleaning capable of being taken apart
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
  • F28D—HEAT-EXCHANGE APPARATUS, NOT PROVIDED FOR IN ANOTHER SUBCLASS, IN WHICH THE HEAT-EXCHANGE MEDIA DO NOT COME INTO DIRECT CONTACT
  • F28D1/00—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary conduit assemblies for one heat-exchange medium only, the media being in contact with different sides of the conduit wall, in which the other heat-exchange medium is a large body of fluid, e.g. domestic or motor car radiators
  • F28D1/02—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary conduit assemblies for one heat-exchange medium only, the media being in contact with different sides of the conduit wall, in which the other heat-exchange medium is a large body of fluid, e.g. domestic or motor car radiators with heat-exchange conduits immersed in the body of fluid
  • F28D1/03—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary conduit assemblies for one heat-exchange medium only, the media being in contact with different sides of the conduit wall, in which the other heat-exchange medium is a large body of fluid, e.g. domestic or motor car radiators with heat-exchange conduits immersed in the body of fluid with plate-like or laminated conduits
  • F28D1/0308—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary conduit assemblies for one heat-exchange medium only, the media being in contact with different sides of the conduit wall, in which the other heat-exchange medium is a large body of fluid, e.g. domestic or motor car radiators with heat-exchange conduits immersed in the body of fluid with plate-like or laminated conduits the conduits being formed by paired plates touching each other
  • F28D1/0325—Heat-exchange apparatus having stationary conduit assemblies for one heat-exchange medium only, the media being in contact with different sides of the conduit wall, in which the other heat-exchange medium is a large body of fluid, e.g. domestic or motor car radiators with heat-exchange conduits immersed in the body of fluid with plate-like or laminated conduits the conduits being formed by paired plates touching each other the plates having lateral openings therein for circulation of the heat-exchange medium from one conduit to another
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
  • F28F—DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
  • F28F9/00—Casings; Header boxes; Auxiliary supports for elements; Auxiliary members within casings
  • F28F9/02—Header boxes; End plates
  • F28F9/0246—Arrangements for connecting header boxes with flow lines
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F28—HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL
  • F28F—DETAILS OF HEAT-EXCHANGE AND HEAT-TRANSFER APPARATUS, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
  • F28F9/00—Casings; Header boxes; Auxiliary supports for elements; Auxiliary members within casings
  • F28F9/02—Header boxes; End plates
  • F28F9/0246—Arrangements for connecting header boxes with flow lines
  • F28F9/0256—Arrangements for coupling connectors with flow lines
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S165/00—Heat exchange
  • Y10S165/906—Reinforcement

Definitions

• the invention relates to heat exchangers; and, more particularly, to a modular cooler comprised of a plurality of interconnected units.
• Heat exchangers are well known in the art. Certain types are used to cool oil or transmission fluid in vehicles or the like. Depending on the capacity desired, a dealer in such coolers must store in inventory a number of such cooling capacities. There is thus a need for a cooler wherein various capacities may be attended to using only a single unit which can be coupled to one or more like units.
• U.S. Patent No. 5,148,863 commonly assigned, there is disclosed such a modular cooler having a plurality of units which can be interconnected in a leak proof manner yet providing fluid flow therebetween.
• the cooler can be an oil or transmission fluid cooler and any suitable number of units and any suitable number of units may be stacked.
• a single unit can be used in conjunction with like units to provide any desired degree of cooling.
• a modular cooler having a plurality of units which can be interconnected in a leak proof manner yet providing fluid flow therebetween.
• the cooler can be an oil or transmission fluid cooler and any suitable number of units may be stacked.
• a single unit can be used in conjunction with like units to provide any desired degree of cooling.
• the units are connected together by an immovable rod extending through the units which adds strength to the cooler and eliminates undesirable expansion and distortion when operating under pressure.
• Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a cooler comprised of a plurality of interconnected units
• Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the cooler of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is a view taken along lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;
• Figs. 4 and 5 are views taken along lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively, of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the unit of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 7 is a view taken along lines 7-7 of Fig. 6;
• Fig. 8 is an elevational view of a modified seal in accordance with the teachings of the invention.
• Fig. 9 is an elevational view of a pair of abutting plates having the seal of Fig. 8 sealing the plates.
• a modular cooler 27 is shown comprised of a plurality of interconnected cooling units 10.
• Each unit 10 is comprised of an upper plate 11 secured to a lower plate 12 by a pair of spaced end walls 13, 14.
• a plurality of cooling plates 15 extend between walls 13, 14, secured thereto in any suitable manner.
• Each plate 15 terminates in apertured end flanges 16' having a mid portion 16 comprised of spaced interconnected upper and lower members 17, 18 providing fluid communication therethrough.
• a coil 19 separates the cooling plates 15 from each other and upper and lower plates 11, 12.
• Each upper and lower plate 11, 12 has a pair of spaced openings 20, 21.
• the units 10 may be made of any suitable material, such as metal, coated or uncoated, and assembled in any suitable manner, such as gluing, welding, screws, bolts, etc.
• Fig. 3 it can be seen that generally cylindrical hollow tubing portions 24 separate each end flange 16' on each side of midportion 16 and in fluid communication therewith, the tubing sections 24 being axially aligned so that fluid can flow down opening 20 in upper plate 11, through tubing sections 24 and into midportions 16 and thus into the tubing sections 24 on both sides of plates 11, 12 as indicated by arrows 25, 26 in Fig. 3.
• a plurality of units 10 can be interconnected to provide a modular cooler 27.
• Units 10 may be of the same overall height but, as will be discussed, one unit may be higher than the other (having more cooling plates 15, e.g., one unit having eight plates and another unit having thirteen plates) .
• a threaded nipple 52, 53 (Fig. 3) is provided at each opening 20, 21 in plate 11, each nipple 52, 53 having a throughbore 54 and an outer thread 55 with a hexagonally shaped integral nut 56 (Figs. 2 and 8) .
• Throughbores 54 are aligned with openings 20, 21 in top wall 11. Like openings 20, 21 are also formed in both wall 12 (see Fig. 4 - only opening 20 being visible) .
• the nipples 52, 53 may be one integral piece.
• a suitable fluid conduit (not shown) may be coupled to each nipple 52, 53.
• Nipples 52, 53 form part of the interconnecting means for interconnecting a plurality of units 10 as shown in Fig. 1.
• insert portion 100 (nipple 53 being identical) has an integral insert portion 100 extending downwardly from nut 56. As seen in Figs. 6 and 7, a groove 101 is provided at the junction of nut 56 and insert portion 100 for receiving a resilient O-ring 102 (Fig. 6) therein. As seen in Fig. 8, insert portion 100 may be narrower in one orientation thereof and, as seen in Fig. 6, has an opening 103 therethrough communicating with the throughbore 54 through nipple 52. A threaded hole 104 extends from opening 103 to the bottom thereof.
• Nipple portions 55, 56 and 100 may be one integral piece or comprised of welded or glued parts. The width of insert portion 100 is such so that it can be inserted through openings 20, 21 as will be discussed.
• An elongated threaded rod 105 is provided adapted to thread into hole 104. Rod 105 is of an overall length to extend between abutting units 10 as seen in Fig. l, and as will be discussed further.
• a sealing member 106 (Fig. 6) is provided between abutting units 10. As seen in Fig. 9, each sealing member 106 has an inner cylindrical portion 107 with a throughbore 108 and an outer integral ring portion 109. The outer diameter of cylindrical portion 107 is related to the diameter of openings 20, 21.
• a groove 110 is provided on each side of the intersection of portions 107, 109 (only one side visible in Fig. 9) for receiving resilient O-rings 110, 111 therein (see Fig. 6) .
• An end cap 112 is provided at the bottom of the lowermost unit 10. End cap 112 has an inner cylindrical portion 113 and an outer hexagonal shaped nut portion 114, of greater diameter than portion 113. The diameter of cylindrical portion 113 is related to the diameter of openings 20, 21.
• Portions 113 and 114 may be integral or of one piece with a groove 115 being provided in portion 144 where it intersects portion 113 for receiving a resilient 0-ring 116 therein.
• a threaded hole 117 is provided in the center of cylindrical portion 113 for threadably receiving rod 105 therein.
• the upper unit 10 in Fig. 1 is placed against the lower unit 10, walls 12 of upper unit 10 being adjacent wall 11 of lower unit 10 with sealing members 106 disposed in aligned openings 20, 21 in both the upper and lower units.
• the cylindrical portion 107 enters adjacent aligned openings 20, 21 and O-rings 110, 111 seal off the two abutting units 10 (see Fig. 4) .
• O-ring 102 is inserted into groove 101 of nipple 52 and rod 105 is threaded into hole 104.
• Rod 105 is now extended down through the aligned openings, such as openings 21 in upper and lower units 10, with insert portion 100 entering the uppermost opening 21 as can be seen in Fig. 3.
• the lowermost end of rod 105 as seen in Fig. 5, is now threaded into hole 117 in cylindrical portion 113, the latter being disposed in the opening 20 in lowermost unit 10.
• Tightening nut portion 114 tightens the two units of Fig. 1 together in a fluid tight manner.
• two units 10 are shown in Fig. 1, obviously a plurality of such units 10 can be modularly stacked and assembled using lower threaded rods 105. Coolant is flowed through nipple 52, down through the aligned tubing sections 24 and openings 20, 21 and through the midportions 16 back out of nipple 53 as is well known in the cooling art.
• the modular system 27 disclosed herein can be used to cool oil, transmission fluid, etc. They can be used anywhere it is necessary to generate a lot of heat, such as in x-ray machines. That is, the fluid passing through the coils of the cooler may be air.
• the need for carrying a plurality of different cooling units of cooling capacities is substantially reduced since units 10 can be stacked and quickly assembled to obtain any desired coolant capacity.
• O-rings and mating grooves have been indicated as sealing means between the units 10, obviously other means can be used. Further, any suitable sealing means may be used. Although a preferred O-ring groove 110 is shown in Fig. 6, obviously different locations for such grooves may be provided. In fact, such grooves may be provided as shown in Fig. 10 wherein a modified nipple 52' is shown having a first groove 101' on the outside of insert portion 100' and a second groove 101' ' on the underside of nut portion 56' for receiving O-rings therein.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Heat-Exchange Devices With Radiators And Conduit Assemblies (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=22230689

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (31)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (17)

• 1993
  • 1993-07-14 US US08/091,997 patent/US5325915A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1994
  • 1994-03-16 EP EP94913909A patent/EP0707701A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1994-03-16 CA CA002164432A patent/CA2164432A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1994-03-16 JP JP7504518A patent/JPH09500951A/ja active Pending
  • 1994-03-16 WO PCT/US1994/002832 patent/WO1995002798A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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